Category Archives: Prayer/Prayer Requests

Prayer for the Dying

Prayer/Prayer Requests

I love this prayer! From Catholic Online:

May Christ, Who was crucified for your sake,
free you from excruciating pain.

May Christ, Who died for you,
free you from the death that never ends.

May Christ, the Son of the living God,
set you in the ever green loveliness of His Paradise,
and may He, the true Shepherd,
recognize you as one of His own.

May you see your Redeemer face to face
and, standing in His presence forever,
may you see with joyful eyes
Truth revealed in all its fullness.

Amen.

John

Prayer/Prayer Requests, Vocation

Luke 1:

41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the holy Spirit,
42 Cried out in a loud voice and said, “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
43 And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
44 For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy.

DSCN0054
Yesterday, I was praying the rosary, and got to the visitation. I was listening to one of the CDs in the car, so they were reading a bit for each mystery, and talked about how John “jumped for joy.” I don’t know why, but I’ve always found this a bit … not odd, not unsettling, not disturbing, but … something….

[See, I don’t run into this all that often, because I don’t pray the Joyful mysteries all that often…. The Sorrowful mysteries are the only ones I know on my own, so I pray these a lot…. LOL!]

This was irritating me, that I didn’t know why it was bothering me. I suppose I still don’t really know why it bothers me. Perhaps just the phrase. Maybe because I see John as a man and have difficulty picturing a man “jumping for joy” — even if it might be an appropriate reaction for a little boy.

Why wasn’t Elizabeth “jumping for joy”?

Then, I had a thought. [Scary, right? :)]

Perhaps this was something particular to John. Certainly, Elizabeth was excited and joyful about the presence of the Lord, but there was something … more … to John’s reaction.

Perhaps it has to do with the joy and excitement you get when you realize your vocation. That THIS is what I was made for. 🙂 And maybe that’s why he wore the hair shirt and ate locusts…to balance out the fact that HE was chosen to be the Lord’s personal herald. [Instead of doing the Happy Dance and shouting, “He picked ME! He picked ME!”]

Dangerous Prayers: Hail Mary

Prayer/Prayer Requests

So, this morning I happened to be praying on the way to Mass (shocking, right?) 2nd Sorrowful Mystery. And here’s the dangerous part: I was thinking about what I was praying. 🙂

Here’s my thoughts, for your amusement:

We ask for God’s forgiveness for our sins, and for adding to His pain on the cross. But, do we ever ask Mary for her forgiveness for hurting her Son? Here we are, praying the Hail Mary, asking for her intercession, asking for her to pray for us sinners. Us sinners. The ones whose sins caused such pain in her Son. Pain that she had to witness, which I’m sure broke her heart. Do we think of her pain, when we ask for her intercession? Probably not as much as we really should.

Today, I was the one holding the scourging whip during that sorrowful mystery. And I REALLY don’t want to be that person. 😦 Not only does it hurt Him who has given me everything, but our Mother is also right there…watching.

Talking to God about Unity

Neat Things I Didn't Author, Prayer/Prayer Requests

For your reading pleasure, here is an excerpt from my prayer journal regarding a passage from The Lord“>”The Lord” by Romano Guardini.

In speaking of the people You raised from the dead, he says, “It is expressly stated how profoundly shaken Jesus is by these encounters. At such times, He seems to step into the fate of the individual, ordering the events of the world from the inside. For one instant created by the Savior’s love, a human heart forms the decisive center of world reality.”

Reading this makes me think that somehow unity is essential. Which is why miracles cannot occur if I do not have faith. If I am not open to having You inside me — united to me — then I cannot benefit from Your transforming power which you want to share with me. Because you don’t work exteriorly, but interiorly, even with the physical world?

Somehow, the concept of knowing something or understanding something means that you must penetrate the surface and get to the core of that entity. To control water, you need to understand water in all its aspects — you need to get inside it and almost become the water to see things as water sees things so as to effect change. So, too, with men and men’s hearts — with the necessary allowances made for our free will.

I think that is the problem most of the time; we either don’t let You in, or if we do, we hold back — trying to remain attached to what is us and under our control and thus thwart (to a greater or lesser extent) that unity which You seek and by which You can heal us.

Not to say that if we block You, that You do not have many other avenues to try to reach us, through other things and people who are open to You, but I think the efficacy would be better, more direct, more powerful, if we would submit and allow for this complete unity with You.

Epiphany Blessing of a Home

Holidays, Photography, Prayer/Prayer Requests

I received these prayers in a gift box of frankincense, gold and myrrh from the local Catholic bookstore, but for expediency, I have copied them down from this website.


three wise men

Originally uploaded by SpacePotato

All: Make the Sign of the Cross.

Head of Household: “Peace be to this house, and to all who dwell here, in the name of the Lord.”

All: “Blessed be God forever.”

Reader: “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things come to be through him, and without him nothing came to be….  And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth. ”  (John 1:1-3.14)

Using chalk, write on the outside of your house, above or next to an entrance:

(write the first half of the current year)
+20
Christus
Mansionem
Benedicat
10+
(write the other half of the year)

These words mean:  “May Christ bless this house.”   (Each word could be written by a different member of the household.)

Or optionally you may use the names of the Magi:

(write the first half of the current year)
+20
Caspar
Melchior
Balthazar
10+
(write the other half of the year)

(Each name could be written by a different member of the household.)

All: Lord God of heaven and earth, you revealed your only begotten Son to every nation by the guidance of a star. Bless this house and all who inhabit it. May we be blessed with health, goodness of heart, gentleness and the keeping of your law. Fill us with the light of Christ, that our love for each other may go out to all. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Serenity Prayer

Prayer/Prayer Requests

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
enjoying one moment at a time;
accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it;
trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will;
that I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him forever in the next. — Reinhold Niebuhr

O Adonai

Liturgy of the Hours/Christian Prayer, Photography, Prayer/Prayer Requests,

 

The prophet Isaiah
(Is 11:4-5; 33:22)

Latin:
O Adonai, et Dux domus Israel,
qui Moysi in igne flammae rubi apparuisti,
et ei in Sina legem dedisti:
veni ad redimendum nos in brachio extento.

English:
O Adonai, and leader of the House of Israel,
who appeared to Moses in the fire of the burning bush
and gave him the law on Sinai:
Come and redeem us with an outstretched arm.

O Sapientia

Liturgy of the Hours/Christian Prayer, Prayer/Prayer Requests,

Latin:
O Sapientia, quae ex ore Altissimi prodiisti,
attingens a fine usque ad finem,
fortiter suaviterque disponens omnia:
veni ad docendum nos viam prudentiae.

English:
O Wisdom, coming forth from the mouth of the Most High,
reaching from one end to the other mightily,
and sweetly ordering all things:
Come and teach us the way of prudence.

The O Antiphons are antiphons used at daily prayer in the evenings of the last days of Advent in various liturgical Christian traditions.

Each antiphon is a name of Christ, one of his attributes mentioned in Scripture. They are:

December 17: O Sapientia (O Wisdom)
December 18: O Adonai (O Adonai)
December 19: O Radix Jesse (O Root of Jesse)
December 20: O Clavis David (O Key of David)
December 21: O Oriens (O Morning Star)
December 22: O Rex Gentium (O King of the nations)
December 23: O Emmanuel (O Emmanuel)

In the Roman Catholic tradition, the O Antiphons are sung or recited at Vespers from December 17 to December 23 inclusive.

The hymn O come, O come, Emmanuel (in Latin, Veni Emmanuel) is a lyrical paraphrase of these antiphons in reverse order.

The exact origin of the “O Antiphons” is not known. Boethius (480–524/5) made a slight reference to them, thereby suggesting their presence at that time. At the Benedictine Saint Benedict Abbey of Fleury (now Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire), these antiphons were recited by the abbot and other abbey leaders in descending rank, and then a gift was given to each member of the community. By the eighth century, they were in use in the liturgical celebrations in Rome. The usage of the “O Antiphons” was so prevalent in monasteries that the phrases “Keep your O” and “The Great O Antiphons” were common parlance. One may thereby conclude that in some fashion the “O Antiphons” have been part of Western liturgical tradition since the very early Church.

The Benedictine monks arranged these antiphons with a definite purpose. If one starts with the last title and takes the first letter of each one—Emmanuel, Rex, Oriens, Clavis, Radix, Adonai, Sapientia—the Latin words ero cras are formed, meaning, “Tomorrow, I will come”. Therefore Jesus, whose coming Christians have prepared for in Advent and whom they have addressed in these seven Messianic titles, now speaks to them: “Tomorrow, I will come.” So the “O Antiphons” not only bring intensity to their Advent preparation, but bring it to a joyful conclusion.

And… On the day of Wisdom, Jennie was born! 🙂

The Universal Prayer (attributed to Pope Clement XI)

Prayer/Prayer Requests

Lord, I believe in you: increase my faith.
I trust in you: strengthen my trust.
I love you: let me love you more and more.
I am sorry for my sins: deepen my sorrow.

I worship you as my first beginning,
I long for you as my last end,
I praise you as my constant helper,
And call on you as my loving protector.

Guide me by your wisdom,
Correct me with your justice,
Comfort me with your mercy,
Protect me with your power.

I offer you, Lord, my thoughts: to be fixed on you;
My words: to have you for their theme;
My actions: to reflect my love for you;
My sufferings: to be endured for your greater glory.

I want to do what you ask of me:
In the way you ask,
For as long as you ask,
Because you ask it.

Lord, enlighten my understanding,
Strengthen my will,
Purify my heart,
and make me holy.

Help me to repent of my past sins
And to resist temptation in the future.
Help me to rise above my human weaknesses
And to grow stronger as a Christian.

Let me love you, my Lord and my God,
And see myself as I really am:
A pilgrim in this world,
A Christian called to respect and love
All whose lives I touch,
Those under my authority,
My friends and my enemies.

Help me to conquer anger with gentleness,
Greed by generosity,
Apathy by fervor.
Help me to forget myself
And reach out toward others.

Make me prudent in planning,
Courageous in taking risks.
Make me patient in suffering, unassuming in prosperity.

Keep me, Lord, attentive at prayer,
Temperate in food and drink,
Diligent in my work,
Firm in my good intentions.

Let my conscience be clear,
My conduct without fault,
My speech blameless,
My life well-ordered.
Put me on guard against my human weaknesses.
Let me cherish your love for me,
Keep your law,
And come at last to your salvation.

Teach me to realize that this world is passing,
That my true future is the happiness of heaven,
That life on earth is short,
And the life to come eternal.

Help me to prepare for death
With a proper fear of judgment,
But a greater trust in your goodness.
Lead me safely through death
To the endless joy of heaven.

Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

I Choose For His Life

Jennspeak, Prayer/Prayer Requests, Vocation, ,

Today is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

When the angel came before Mary and asked her if she would be the mother to God’s only Son, she replied, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”  In other words, what she said was, “I choose for His life.”  She completely submitted her life to the divine Will and choose for the Incarnation.  It wasn’t just choosing for an event, but choosing for a person.  It was deeply personal and profoundly significant.  Who knows what expectations and dreams Mary had for her life?  In that moment, she gave them all up.  Her life was now for her son, His son.

Driving in to work today, this was all I could think of.  As I’ve mentioned before, I find myself in a situation of spiritual motherhood or spiritual adoption.  To me, this is much more than just a commitment to pray for this individual.  Earlier in the year, I felt as if I was being asked about the depth of my commitment.  Was I willing to be like Mary and give all of myself to this?

Absolutely.

I am, as they say, “all in.”  I submit to God entirely in this.  My struggles for holiness are no longer merely for my own sanctification, but because prayers of holy men and women are more efficacious (James 5:16, 1 Peter 3:12).  So, I do good not for my sake but for his, and His.  Even my prayer is no longer my own.

On this great feast of Our Lady, I pray for her assistance, that I can, in some small way, mirror her complete self-gift and devotion to the Will of the Lord.  I continue to pray in affirmation, “I choose for his life.”  May my life be a worthy sacrifice for his benefit according to His Will.